a tourist swimming with a sandbar shark in Hawaii (Photo : REUTERS/HUGH GENTRY)
Pocket shark (Mollisquama sp.) was recently found in the Gulf Of Mexico. The inches-long vertebrate is a rare species of shark, which is so small it can fit in the pocket, thus the name.
One of many physiological features of the pocket shark that scientists hope to better understand is the distinctive orifice behind its pectoral fin.
this is the second time a pocket shark was discovered. According to Mark Grace of National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries' Pascagoula, Miss., Laboratory, the pocket shark recently discovered was a newly born male with an unhealed umbilical scar. It measured only 5 and a half inches long.
"Discovering him has us thinking about where mom and dad may be, and how they got to the Gulf," Grace said. "The only other known specimen was found very far away, off Peru, 36 years ago."
As compared to the 1979 specimen taxonomic description, the recently discovered pocket shark has a series of glands along the abdomen, which was not noted earlier. The new specimen, which was found in the holdings of NOAA's lab in Pascagoula and not in the ocean, per se, is part of the Royal D. Suttkus Fish Collection at Tulane University's Biodiversity Research Institute in Belle Chasse, La.
Meanwhile, the United States development and production for Statoil (STO) head Bill Maloney is eyeing the Gulf of Mexico for opportunities in oil.
In his speech during the IHS Energy CERA Week conference, Maloney noted the potential in the Gulf of Mexico, particularly on the Mexican side where there have been fewer wells drilled than on the American side, The Street reported.
The conference was held in Houston, Texas from April 20, Monday to April 24, Friday.
